Not to be confused with 24 Hours of Le Mans.
August 3, 2012 4:34 PM   Subscribe

Hey! Do you like auto racing? Perhaps you’ve wished to see a race featuring a Ford 150 pickup body mounted backwards on a Crown Vic chassis. Or maybe a two-stroke/three-cylinder powerhouse 1967 Saab, complete with Antarctic emergency airdrop sled mounted to the roof. Or even a totally ludicrous self-powered pop-out camper.

Then you’ll love 24 hours of LeMons! It’s a series of endurance races featuring teams competing in cars that can cost no more than US$500 (of course, required safety equipment is not included in this upper limit). Prizes are often paid out in nickels. If your car is truly a masterpiece of unreliability yet competes with unlikely success, you may receive the coveted Index of Effluency. If you are considered to be the biggest jerk on the course, or compete in a car that is way over the $500 limit, you might get the People’s Curse. Other creative punishments await on the Wheel of Misfortune.

Car and Driver blog
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posted by Existential Dread (16 comments total) 15 users marked this as a favorite
 
This post was inspired by a group of friends who won the Index of Effluency at Sears Pointless this year. Go Team Oly Express!
posted by Existential Dread at 4:36 PM on August 3, 2012


I think this is a great race series, but am just a tad suspicious about some of these costing only $500.
posted by maxwelton at 4:41 PM on August 3, 2012


My favorite was the geo metro with a Hyabusa motorcycle engine. The Metro-gnome!
posted by hellojed at 4:46 PM on August 3, 2012


Taking a three-cylinder '67 Saab into the 24 Hours of LeMons is a horrible disrespect to a wonderful car. They don't make those anymore.
posted by dunkadunc at 4:48 PM on August 3, 2012


Taking a three-cylinder '67 Saab into the 24 Hours of LeMons is a horrible disrespect to a wonderful car. They don't make those anymore.

Yeeaah, you probably shouldn't watch Top Gear.
posted by -harlequin- at 4:56 PM on August 3, 2012 [2 favorites]


In high school around 2000, I knew a guy who was then a modestly successful rapper, but an actual successful producer. He had a 50's Chevy truck body mounted on a ferrari (or some other high powered type vehicle) chassis. It was pretty cool.
posted by cmoj at 4:58 PM on August 3, 2012


just announced, by LeMons hero Speedycop:

an actual airplane
posted by ninjew at 5:16 PM on August 3, 2012


Bribing the judges is encouraged to get around the $500 limit. If your bribery skills aren't good enough, you get penalty laps added based on how much over $500 you're assessed at.
posted by hwyengr at 5:25 PM on August 3, 2012


Bribing the judges is encouraged to get around the $500 limit. If your bribery skills aren't good enough, you get penalty laps added based on how much over $500 you're assessed at.

How many extra laps for being $120,000 over the $500 budget, able to do 0-60 in 3.5, and really clumsy at bribery? That would be awesome :)
posted by -harlequin- at 5:36 PM on August 3, 2012


I've been involved with a few races, mostly in the South. there are guys who try to win in a conventional way, which takes a surprising amount of skill and organization. and I think it's boring that way. it's much more fun to bring something that shouldn't even be operational, much less circling a race track. the fun stuff is trying to repair a mangled steering rack or stuck valve springs at midnight so you can continue on Sunday. the adventure is what happens when shit goes wrong.

there was a great article about how to win LeMons on TTAC
posted by ninjew at 5:52 PM on August 3, 2012 [1 favorite]


You know, all kidding aside, this actually seems more like real racing to me than the high-priced stuff they have going on.
posted by Old'n'Busted at 6:39 PM on August 3, 2012 [4 favorites]


This is pure inspiration, and has my husband scheming how he would do it.
posted by bookdragoness at 6:49 PM on August 3, 2012


How many extra laps for being $120,000 over the $500 budget, able to do 0-60 in 3.5, and really clumsy at bribery?

In the early days, one entrant car would be crushed at each race, and it was picked by popular vote. So if everyone thought you were blatantly cheating on cost, you'd likely get the crusher.
posted by hwyengr at 10:23 PM on August 3, 2012 [2 favorites]


Yeeaah, you probably shouldn't watch Top Gear
Words to live by.
posted by Thorzdad at 5:53 AM on August 4, 2012 [1 favorite]


what
posted by LordSludge at 1:11 PM on August 4, 2012


My favorite recent LeMons car is the DoubleSuck Toyota MRolla – the front of a Corolla welded to the back of an MR2... with both engines running! "It feels like driving a very powerful Civic with two fat guys sitting in the back seat."
posted by nicwolff at 1:40 PM on August 4, 2012 [1 favorite]


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